However 19-year-olds are still treated as minors by the Japanese judicial system and Hinds received the maximum penalty provided by law.

The Furlong family however were disgusted that he could walk free within a few years and Andrea said at the time, “I am disgusted by the sentencing. I just want to leave Japan, go home and never return.”

That possibility of Hinds being freed however has now been denied - at least for the time being - after prison authorities castigated him for his callous indifference to the heinous crime he committed.

Since he began serving behind bars he’s been required to attend numerous courses that aim to rehabilitate him. Documents obtained by the Sunday World however suggest that so far the courses have had no impact on him and he remains indifferent to his crime.

“I have never believed a man capable of doing what that monster did to my daughter is capable of changing,” Furlong’s father, Andrew, told the Irish Independent.

“He preyed on an unconscious and helpless girl, my beautiful Nicola,and subjected her to a horrific death. The Japanese authorities let us down when they gave him a sentence of just five to 10 years for Nicola's murder. I hope they will not let us down again.”